Sweetheart
by PeetasAndHerondales
Summary: "You're too old to be so shy," he says to me so I stay the night. Katniss seeks Peeta for all the wrong reasons. Written for the day 5 challenge, "Intimate Portraits" for the round 3 Prompts in Panem on tumblr. Visual Prompt: #9


Sixteen candles flickered brightly in front of me as he pushed the cake towards me. I gulped. Night had fallen, and I could barely make out his midnight blue eyes in the candlelight. But I could tell that they were darkened with lust.

His voice was low and husky. "Make a wish, Sweetheart."

I took a deep breath. _I want to be yours,_ I thought, and then I blew out the candles, leaving us in near darkness. I heard the scraping of a chair as he stood up and his heavy footsteps behind me. And then suddenly, I felt his moist lips on my neck, his rough palms on my breasts. I shivered.

"Peeta," I whimpered.

"Did you wish for this, Sweetheart?" he asked as he trailed his arm down towards my navel, stopping just above my waist, where I wanted him. I nodded, and then remembered that he couldn't see me.

"Y-yes," I stuttered.

His hot tongue trailed a wet path along the shell of my ear. "Well then you're in the right place," he said, and I jumped when I felt his warm breath in my ear. He let go of me and turned on the light. I blinked rapidly, rubbing my eyes as I tried to adjust to the fluorescent kitchen lights.

"It's time to cut the cake," he smirked when I looked up at him in confusion.

It was then that I took a full minute to appreciate what he had done for me. The cake was absolutely mouthwatering. He had made my favorite- black forest cake with whipped cream and strawberries on top. "How did you know this was my favorite?" I asked him in confusion as he took out a knife and began slicing it.

"I've been watching you," he said simply, as if that wasn't creepy at all. He took a huge slice and placed it on a plate with a fork, passing it over to me. "Have you read your birthday card yet?" he asked.

I nodded rapidly as I stuffed my mouth in delight, picking up the dark green envelope with _Katniss _written neatly on the front. I hadn't actually read it yet. I opened it and took out the card and frowned. It was an erotic picture of a man's arm tugging on a woman's braid, but you could only see her bare back and transparent black panties as he cupped her ass, pinching the space between her legs. The hand that was tugging on her braid wore a black spiked bracelet on its wrists; I quickly looked up and noticed that Peeta was wearing one just like it. The fact that my braid was also identical to the one on the picture did not escape me either. Peeta smiled darkly.

I sighed without comment as I opened the card. The words "_You're mine" _were already written on it, and _Happy 16__th__ Birthday, Sweetheart _was written below that in Peeta's seductive handwriting. I wasn't even sure what the original point of the card was, but whatever.

"What do you think?" Peeta asked after a moment, and his wolfish grin did not hide anything.

I pursed my lips, suddenly not feeling so hungry anymore. "I'm a virgin," I blurted out before I could help myself.

He chuckled. "Not for long," he assured me. He then raised a blonde eyebrow. "Or is that not why you came?" he asked.

I bit my lip. I was afraid, that was a given. But I was also curious, and more importantly, I was turned on. No one could deny the fact that Peeta Mellark was the best lay in town, or the most handsome man in the area, and the heat gathering between my legs was proof of that. Madge Undersee had told me that when she had lost her virginity to him, he had called her Baby. Delly Cartwright had been called Honey. And now he was calling me Sweetheart, even though I wasn't particularly fond of the nickname.

But I didn't tell him that because I knew it was against his rules to protest the nickname. He acted like it was an imperative rule to the whole process, like it was sacred to him. He was a womanizer, and part-time Dom. Except that most of the girls who sought him were clueless virgins like me, so he prepared us first. Only I wasn't interested in that kind of lifestyle, I just wanted him. In fact, I was pretty sure that most of the girls who had lost their virginity to him just wanted to get laid, but he didn't mind that as long as we obeyed him. It was either follow his rules or call it off. And I would do anything he told me to do in the dark, if only I knew how. "I'm scared," I finally admitted, blushing.

"Hey," he said as he took my chin between his callused fingertips so that I could look into his blue orbs. "You're my favorite one, Sweetheart," he told me.

I smiled. "Really?" I asked hopefully.

He grinned, revealing a set of perfect white teeth, and I couldn't decide if he looked more like a handsome prince or the Big Bad Wolf. "Of course. I don't bake delicious cakes or buy birthday cards for just anybody, you know. Plus, we're next-door neighbors. We go way back," he winked. "You're too old to be so shy."

I breathed a sigh of relief. He was right, of course; we _did _go way back. Even though Peeta was five years older than me and a college graduate, I had known him all of my life. I trusted him. He had always been kind to me, and in the end, I was the one who had ended up at his door. I was tired of seeing other girls standing on his doorstep, of the jealous pang in my stomach I got every time I saw him kiss one of those girls. Peeta Mellark may not be mine, but I wanted to be his.

"Okay, let's do this," I said, feeling braver.

He smiled. "Are you done with your cake?" he asked.

I nodded, and he led me into his bedroom. He closed the door firmly behind him as I looked around his room in the dim light. He had candles lit in every corner. I wondered if he had done this all for me. The king-sized bed took up most of the space, and across from it was a dresser, and beside that was another door that was probably his closet. Paintings covered the walls, but I couldn't tell what they were of. Two night stands with more candles flanked at each side of the bed. That was it. Peeta Mellark was extremely tidy for a guy his age. Then again, his dirty underwear could be stashed beneath the bed for all I knew.

He stood behind me then, just like he had done earlier, breathing down my neck as his fingertips trailed down my naked arms. His hands reached the hem of my green dress as he kissed my neck, and he slowly pulled it over my head. Now I stood in only my dark lace bra and panties and my matching black fuck-me heels. "You're so lovely," he murmured as he released the clasp of my brassiere in one practiced movement.

I gasped when it fell from my arms and he cupped my bare breasts, kneading them and pinching my sensitive nipples. I threw my head back to rest on his shoulder as his greedy mouth latched to my neck, his hips grinding into my ass. I could feel his hardness behind me as he suckled and nipped a path from beneath my earlobe to the curve of my shoulder. My sensations were on overdrive, and I reached one arm behind me to curl my fingers into his soft blonde hair.

"Look in the mirror," he commanded, and I turned towards the mirror above the dresser as he staggered us forward to stand in front of it. My gray eyes were wide and wild as he yanked on my long dark braid. "This is our little secret," he whispered, and he slid his large hand beneath my black panties to cover my crotch.

My breaths came out hitched as he slid a finger into my folds. He rubbed my clit slowly as his pink tongue lapped at my neck, and it suddenly came upon me that he had yet to kiss my mouth. I wondered if that was against his rules too. But I didn't get the chance to shape this thought into words, as suddenly my eyes were rolling back when he began circling my clit faster, the burning and the unexpected hunger consuming me. I ground my pelvis against his hand as he slipped in another digit, this one darting into my entrance. I bit back a moan. This was more painful; I had never fingered myself.

My gasps filled the silence as a tight wire coiled in my belly, his opposite hand pinching and pulling my taut nipples. "Peeta." I breathed as the sharp points on his bracelet scratched my skin.

"Yes, Sweetheart?" He circled my clit faster and faster, using his fingers to spread my wetness around it.

"Please," I cried as I reached behind me to grasp his still-clothed, hard cock.

"Please what?" he asked, but it was too late; the hot wire in me uncoiled as I lost sense of everything, finally relieved from the fire that had been burning me.

He kept fingering me until I became too sensitive, and then he let go of me so that he could pull back the covers on his bed, laying me back on it as he hovered over me, still fully dressed. "Undress me," he said.

So I did. He helped me as I awkwardly unbuttoned his long-sleeve dress shirt and unbuckled the belt on his slacks. We had both dressed up for the occasion without actually prearranging to it. We tossed his clothes on the floor beside mine as he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks. I was still wearing heels and panties, and he was still wearing his black cotton boxers. "Should I take off my shoes?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No. Leave them on. I like them." And then he pulled off my panties, his mouth hovering over my thighs as he did so. I could feel the cut ridges of his thumbs over the goose bumps on my olive skin. He licked his lips as he took a good look at me. "I'm going to ravage you, Sweetheart," he told me, and I nodded numbly.

He began by splaying my legs open for display, brushing slowly up and down my thighs with his hands. He settled in between my legs, staring right into my core, as if in deep contemplation, and I inevitably began to feel self-conscious. "What's wrong?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He shook his head. "Nothing. You're exquisite."

And with that, he peppered kisses all along the inside of my legs, taking his sweet time with each side until he reached my center. I grasped the sheets into my fists in eager anticipation. I couldn't take it any longer; I wanted him _now._

My eyes squeezed shut under their own accord and my mouth fell open when I felt the first wet stroke of his tongue over my folds. "_Oh," _I gasped as my brain struggled to process this new sensation. I pulled on the loose curls on his head as he ran his tongue slowly, torturously, over me. He teased and flicked, nibbled and licked. My back arched up as I cried out. The sounds and whimpers I was making were hardly human as I panted his name in between strokes. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, Peeta," I chanted.

The heat of his tongue was only teasing the fire that was consuming me again. I pulled his hair so hard he groaned, and I could feel my nails digging into his scalp and neck. I was in another realm, one where everything was bright and blurry and full of bliss. My hips pushed into him shamelessly, and he tugged my throbbing bundle of nerves in between his teeth as I screamed. He suckled it into his mouth, running his tongue over it skillfully. My shaking legs pulled him into a headlock.

He looked up at me with his darkened orbs, and I felt his cocky smile over my folds. He began to hum, and the vibrations of his mouth nearly pushed me to the edge, and I knew that I was almost there. He continued to watch me, eating me with his mouth and fucking me with his eyes. "Peeta…" I managed to gasp; my eyes were losing focus.

He pulled his hands away from my thighs and used one to pull at my pebbled nipple while the other drifted down to push his thick fingers into me again. With one last suck of my clit, I burst. I saw the heated explosion behind my eyelids, deafening me with its white noise. I could still feel his tongue exploring, delving into the crevices of my folds until I became too sensitive.

I accidently kicked him behind the head when he pulled away. "Ow!" he groaned as he wiped his wet mouth, licking his lips, savoring my fluids.

"Sorry!" I blushed, embarrassed.

He pulled my legs down gently and smirked, "S'okay, it happens," he assured me. He sat up, and I noticed the prominent bulge straining to escape from the confines of its cotton prison. I wondered what he looked like. I licked my lips.

"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked when he noticed me staring, raising his eyebrow again.

"How?" I asked helplessly. It seemed like a stupid question, but I was seriously clueless. The outline of his dick was horizontal, but still obvious with its impossible thickness. It was like it was trying to hide, but was utterly failing at being shy.

Peeta smiled patiently. "Like this," he said as he took my tentative hands to the elastic waistband of his boxers. "You pull out, and then down. It's easy," he said. He let go of my hands so that I could do it on my own, and I did as I was told, my hands instantly flailing away as his massive cock popped out like a freaking jack-in-the box.

He laughed. "You like it?" he asked, taking it in his hand, as if taming it.

My voice caught in my throat and my eyes widened. _Was that thing alive?_ And how the fuck was he going to fit that inside me? My heart thudded violently against my chest as I began to panic. Maybe this was a bad idea….

But my dread faded as he began to stroke it leisurely, and I watched in rapt fascination as his darker foreskin glided along the veins of his length until reaching the ridge of its head, and then settling back down when he pulled his hand back. I gulped when I watched it twitch. The head of his cock was red and angry, desperate for attention until Peeta circled his thumb over it, spreading the silky beads of liquid that had erupted from its slit.

His face scrunched up and his jaw twitched, and then he ceased his ministrations to look back at me. "You ready?" he asked. He would have sounded completely confident if it wasn't for the trace of desperation falling from his voice. I wondered what he would do if I said no. Would he get upset? Or would he simply shrug it off and finish himself off in front of me? Peeta didn't seem like the angry type. And I was eager to watch him come.

"Yes." the word stumbled out of my lips in a faltering whisper.

He took me by surprise by leaning down to kiss my lips for the first time. His soft, supple lips melted into mine, and when his tongue was allowed entrance into my mouth, I could taste myself in him, a light mixture of sweet and salty. He was a good kisser, too, but that was hardly surprising. His lips explored the crevices of my mouth in the same manner that he had done with my folds, and my core throbbed. His tongue took easy dominance of mine, guiding it as he lapped and twirled against it to then explore the rest of my mouth. I felt so thoroughly fucked without even having been fucked yet, but it was in that instant that I noticed him pushing into my entrance. My long nails scraped the back of his shoulders as I cried out, but he drowned it with his lips.

I could feel him everywhere; I felt uncomfortably full as my walls fought against him the entire time. He was almost in all the way when he pulled out quickly, and I was torn between feeling relieved or disappointed when he also stopped kissing me. "Fuck, I almost forgot the condom," he said in panic as he opened the nightstand drawer and rummaged inside it, taking out a square, foiled packet.

My eyes widened when the realization hit me that he wasn't as confident as he pretended to be. "Shit, I'm sorry, Katniss, I almost got carried away," he said, and I gasped. _He had said my name. _But he was so distraught that he didn't even notice, and I didn't comment on it. He tore open the packet with his teeth and then pulled out the condom, tossing the packet aside hastily. He rolled the condom over his length quickly, pinching the tip before settling back down to hover over me. "Let's try this again, shall we?" he asked, the self-assurance returning to his voice, but not as strong as it was before. I pulled him closer in response, feeling braver now that I didn't feel so alone in my fear.

He smirked. "That's it, Sweetheart," he said, his left arm above my head, supporting his body. He licked the tip of his fingers on his right hand before rubbing them over my burning clit, which nearly sizzled in response as a low hiss escaped from my throat. He then pushed inside me again, this time not hesitating to go all the way in. Tears threatened to fall from the corners of my eyes as I was overwhelmed by his considerable size. "Shh, it's okay," he murmured, kissing my lips again, this time gently. I pulled his chest against my breasts so that the hard, sensitive skin of our nipples made direct contact. I moaned as he continued circling my clit, and I began adjusting to him. Once I felt comfortable, he began thrusting in slowly, and in a brazen movement, my hands flew to clutch at his perfect, muscular ass, squeezing his cheeks as he pushed inside of me again. I felt a dulling pain when he penetrated me, but then, before I realized it, it began to feel _good. _

And all of a sudden, I wanted more. I wanted to feel full, wanted his cock to fulfill the deep, aching chasm inside me. He must have sensed my sudden resolve, for he began thrusting faster and faster, until he was fucking me senseless and my breasts were smashing against his muscular chest, the scorching friction causing a sheet of sweat to erupt from between our bodies. He let go of my clit and moved his hand to knead one of my breasts, his mouth trailing his way down to take my other one in his expert lips, tugging and pulling at my tender peak with his teeth.

I was wailing now, lost in my ecstasy and screaming his name until my throat was sore and the whole neighborhood knew that he was _mine, _if only for tonight. I wrapped my legs around him and grasped at his hair, his back, his sides, scratching his skin until I felt his boiling blood beneath my fingernails, and he cursed loudly. I felt myself climbing into heaven again, or perhaps falling from it, and _I was so close I could almost taste it. _"Are you almost there, Sweetheart?" I heard him ask, but his voice sounded drowned and distant, and I felt his hand over my bundle of nerves once more.

I remembered nodding, and then bursting, uncoiling, quenched from my blazing fire. I opened my eyes in time to watch him come, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, his body trembling above as his mouth lay agape and he emptied himself into the condom. He instantly pulled out, and I watched in a daze as he rolled it off of his limp cock, tying the end and tossing it on the trashcan by the bed. I felt empty. I felt empty now that he was no longer inside of me, and I realized then that he had been filling a space that had gone neglected and unnoticed all this time. And as he collapsed beside me, I watched him drift off as I lay on his chest until the steady thrumming of his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.

* * *

I woke up wondering where I was. Peeta was staring at me from the other side of the bed, and I froze. I was in his bed. In his room. I had lost my virginity to him last night. I had become another piece in his collection. Another piece in his game. I was one of _them_ now. I would never be his lover. "Hey, don't cry," he said as he wiped my tears gently, like he really gave a shit.

"You don't have to pretend anymore," I told him. "We both got what we wanted."

He frowned. "I thought we were friends. Remember?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, but then I came here and ruined everything. I just took up space between your sheets. You don't really want me."

He gasped, and we both stared at each other in wide-eyed silence. "I've always wanted you, Katniss," he finally replied. "I thought I showed you that last night."

"I thought you did that with every girl."

"No. I never call them by their names, or kiss them on the lips, or bake them cakes, or give them birthday cards. I never lose my cool or my confidence with them. I was planning to use the wax from the candles to enhance your experience, but then I realized…" he trailed off, tugging gently at my bottom lip.

"What?"

"I realized that you weren't here for that."

My lips wobbled as I burst into tears, digging my head into the pillow in shame. I wasn't actually sure why I was crying, I just felt like we had done something wrong, and that I had unjustly accused him of a horrid crime. I was in love with him. I was in love with Peeta Mellark, and he had just admitted that had feelings for me too. But what the hell did I know about love? Maybe I was just a stupid, delusional girl, and he was fooling me with his silver tongue.

He wrapped me into his strong, warm arms, and I cried into his chest. "I'm sorry." His voice caught, and I wasn't sure why he was apologizing. "I couldn't do it, Katniss. I couldn't treat you like the rest. You mean too much to me. I realized that this whole time I've only been running away from my feelings towards you. This whole time that I've been watching you, I've been thinking that you would never notice me in the same way that I noticed you because that's what my mother always told me, that I was a pervert for going after you. So I shut off my emotions and only thought about my dick. Every girl I fucked was a way to forget that you weren't her. I couldn't call them by their names because I didn't want to get attached, and because I was afraid that I would call out your name instead. I was a coward, Katniss. I didn't ask you out because I was afraid that if I opened up to you, I would get my heart broken. But then you came to me and changed everything; you were braver because you took the first step, and all I did was hurt you. I'm sorry I'm such a piece of shit. You deserve better. We can't do this again."

I shook my head violently. "No, no, _please_ don't say that. Please tell me you'll stay with me. With me, and nobody else." I was angry now, livid because I was tired of everyone else taking what had obviously been mine all along.

He sighed as he looked deep into my eyes. "Okay," he finally said as he kissed my forehead.

"Always?"

"Always."

_**A/N-**Thank you for reading, and huge thanks to my amazing beta, Court81981 for the super speedy and last-minute beta work!_


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